THE Tory leadership have come under fire after their response to misogynistic smears about Angela Rayner was branded “disingenuous”.

Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries tweeted identical statements expressing solidarity with the Labour deputy leader after Tories reportedly accused her of a “ploy” to distract the Prime Minister in the Commons.

According to the Mail on Sunday, Conservatives suspect Rayner of crossing and uncrossing her legs in a bid to put Johnson off when he’s at the ballot box.

After the comments were widely condemned as misogynistic, Johnson and Dorries joined other political leaders in showing their support for the Labour MP.

Shortly after 11am, the Prime Minister tweeted: “As much as I disagree with @AngelaRayner on almost every political issue I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”

Rayner replied: “Thank you.”

A few minutes later, Culture Secretary Dorries posted exactly the same message.

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After the identical posts were highlighted by Mirror reporter Pippa Crerar, Twitter users were quick to criticise the Tory leaders.

“Nothing says disingenuous like parroting a message without even bothering to put it into your own words,” author and academic Kit Yates commented.

Filmmaker Asif Kapadia wrote: “Tory ‘copy and paste’ disingenuous cult.”

Another person tweeted: “This is exactly why people question Boris Johnson’s sincerity when he says sorry! Pathetic absolutely pathetic.”

The Mail On Sunday reported that Conservatives had claimed Rayner enjoyed attempting to put Johnson “off his stride” during Prime Minister’s Questions by “crossing and uncrossing her legs”.

In a series of tweets, Rayner lashed out at the “lies” being briefed about her.

The Ashton-under-Lyne MP wrote: “Boris Johnson’s cheerleaders have resorted to spreading desperate, perverted smears in their doomed attempts to save his skin. They know exactly what they are doing. The lies they are telling.”

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon backs Angela Rayner after Tory 'Basic Instinct' smear

She said Johnson and his backers “clearly have a big problem with women in public life” and that they “should be ashamed of themselves”.

“I won’t be letting their vile lies deter me. Their attempts to harass and intimidate me will fail,” Rayner added.

Keir Starmer said the sexism displayed by those briefing the Sunday paper was a “disgraceful new low from a party mired in scandal and chaos”.

Tulip Siddiq, the shadow economic secretary to the Treasury, said the accusations were “disgraceful”.

The Labour politician told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “At the end of the day, Angela Rayner is an MP who was elected on merit.

“To talk about the fact she is using her legs or her posture to manipulate the Prime Minister is ridiculous and I’m really upset about it.”

One Tory MP is said to have told the MoS: “She knows she can’t compete with Boris’s Oxford Union debating training, but she has other skills which he lacks.

“She has admitted as much when enjoying drinks with us on the [Commons] terrace.”

When asked on Sophy Ridge about the coverage, Tory chairman Oliver Dowden said he did not recognise the claims attributed to his party’s MPs.